David Villa: "I feel like a football player again"

David Villa was on cloud nine at the end of the match against Dinamo Bucharest in which he had some play-time. He could see light at the end of the tunnel which had seemed endless up until now. The initial five months predicted for his recovery dragged into eight and it looked as though he would not be able to play until 20th August.

"It was such a great moment; one of the best in my career. It's made me feel like a football player again. It's been a really long time for me, longer than I had hoped", confessed an emotional Villa.

However, the striker wants to proceed with caution and to ask the Barcelona and Spanish national team fans to take it step by step: "We need to be patient; I've been out for a long time. I've made a huge step forward, I felt really good but, I've been out of action for a long time and this is a process. Now I'm going to work as hard as possible because, obviously, there are other players who are in better physical shape than me".

Villa is very grateful to his fellow-members of the 'azulgrana' dressing room who have continuously sent him messages of support so that he does not lose hope. "My teammates have been a great help to me. I've had support from them on a daily basis", the striker explained.